“This is not what I expected.”
Kal smiled down at her, giving her hand a squeeze.
“What did you expect?”
Maddie shrugged. “Have you ever heard of Klingons?”
Kal let out a chest-rumbling laugh.
“They aren’t real, but yes.”
Oh, good. Aliens knew about pop culture, or at least hers did.
“Well, I guess that’s what I thought. This is simple. The lighting is soft. I dunno, it’s not scary.”
She squeezed his hand back.
“Well, I guess I’m glad that you don’t find us to be scary. We are protectors, not the enemy. I can’t say every species out there is like us. Now, let’s get your stuff and move out of the area.”
Kal turned to face her as he spoke.
A shiver ran down her spine under his gaze.
“What?” she asked.
His hand rose, gently brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
“Nothing. Only, sometimes everything. I just wanted to look at you, just to make sure this was all real.”
His words elicited a beautiful flutter within her. Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed him.
“It’s a dream, but one that you’re living. Let’s go, Kal. The sooner we get back, the sooner eternity starts.”
Taking the lead, he led her out of the ship. She was met with a hoard of dragons.
Well, four to be exact. What it must be like back on their planet.
Kal quickly shifted, something Maddie was growing rather used to. Waiting for him to settle, she came up to the beast and ran a hand down his snout.
The eyes were still Kal, but they were also this creature. Beautiful. The Dragon sniffed her hair and blew out a breath, nudging her with his muzzle.
“Alright. Sorry. I’m still not used to you like this. Let’s go, dragon boy.”
Maddie slid off his back the second Kal’s paws hit the ground. Her legs wobbled. Air legs, she supposed.
All she knew was what she needed, and that was to say goodbye. She was finally ready to move on. Accept her new life. Mostly.
“Mom?” she whispered as she headed for the house.
Maddie shivered, and not from the night air. Memories flooded back. It didn’t matter that she knew Kal would come for her or that she would somehow make it out alive, that lab terrified her. The memories might fade, but the smells of lab and sterile environments would never fade. One foot in front of the other was all she could do to get into the house.
Her hand shook as she reached for the knob, and Maddie paused. Casting a spell to seek out energy, she waited. All life had energy although right now she probably had more than three people with her anxiety.
“It’s safe. Deo already checked.”
She jumped as Kal came up next to her.
“Right. Okay.” Taking a hesitant step forward, she forced through the memories, the fear, the dread, and the anger.
“Mom?” she called into the space.
Nothing.
“Maybe she will find you, Maddie. Let’s grab what you need. I don’t like being exposed. I can’t guarantee they won’t be back.”
Swallowing a lump in her throat, she grabbed Kal’s hand and went in.
She could do this.
“Wait here? I won’t be long.”
Quickly, Maddie ran to the picture on the end table and grabbed it, gripping it to her chest. She needed something. Even if she never got to say a final goodbye, she’d always have a memory and echo of her past.
Clutching the picture to her chest, she walked back to the kitchen. “I just want to grab my clothes. Then we can go.”
The hall suddenly tilted.
“Maddie? You okay?”
Kal’s strong hands held her, keeping her from falling.
Rubbing her arm, she tried to erase the dull throb that grew with every passing beat of her heart. “I. yeah. I think so. Can we just get out of here?”
Kal nodded and pulled her to him. The room stopped spinning, and she got a few feet further. The door to her room wasn’t far, she could do this. Grab her bag and walk away from this. That was it. She didn’t need to wait around here.
Breathing through the unease, she tried to feel what Kal felt. Focus on figuring out a new skill. Only, it was useless against the dread rising within her. Something was wrong, but maybe it was just the memory.
A sting shot through her arm and she dropped the frame. Kal’s hand shot out to grab her as she buckled. Reaching in what seemed like slow motion, the picture frame continued to fall, but Kal caught the frame as Maddie crumpled.
“Maddie? What’s wrong?”
She blinked through a pain radiating through her. This was not the same thing her mother had done.
“I don’t know. My arm. It’s my arm.”
Kal gripped her sleeve and ripped at it.
“Maddie, the doctor. At the lab. He did something before you got away, a shot of something. What was it?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’d forgotten about it until now.”
She cried out in pain.
“Maddie? Hold on. I’m calling for help.”
She had no idea what the hell was going on. A sour taste entered her mouth. Great, this was getting worse.
Healing spells. She knew some, maybe? Could she think of one though? No. Because she sucked at that. She wasn’t that kind of witch. She tried to draw on strength from Kal, find the magic in the air around her.
“Maddie dear? I told you not to fight back.”
Looking up, Maddie saw her mother floating.
“Oh dear. Oh dear. Why did you do this? This was the one scenario that could have gone wrong with my plan.”
Another plan gone wrong. Maddie couldn’t even pretend shock.
“Mom. What did you do to me?”
Her mother fidgeted. “I didn’t do this. It was all going so well until you had to show that you had some of Kal’s power. Oh, Maddie. Why must you always fight me?”
Kal supported her, but she couldn’t sit up through the pain. Her stomach clenched, and she dry heaved.
“You tell him to get a hold of that woman, the witch that Eadric will mate. She can help. Oh, if you would have just
